Postscript: The role of hazards in urban policy at the millennium - James K. Mitchell

Appendices

Contributors

Other titles of interest

Appendices

1. What is the population of the world's largest cities?

It is impossible to be sure of the exact population of the world's
largest cities. Among others: definitions of cities vary; municipal boundaries
vary; the existence, frequency, and accuracy of urban censuses vary; and rates
of population change vary. The following table provides the most authoritative
estimates of urban population for 14 of the largest cities.

City

Population, 1994 (millions)

Per capita GNP, 1991 (US$)

Tokyo

26.8

26,824

SPaulo

16.4

2,920

New York

16.1

22,356

Mexico City

15.6

2,971

Shanghai

15.1

364

Bombay

15.1

330

Los Angeles

12.4

22,356

Beijing

12.4

364

Calcutta

11.7

330

Seoul

11.6

6,277

Jakarta

11.5

592

Buenos Aires

10.0

3,966

Tianjin

10.7

364

Osaka

10.6

26,824

Source: United Nations, World Urbanization
Project. The 1994 Revision, New York, 1995.

2. Known pre-twentieth-century urban disasters that killed more
than 10,000 city residents

Year

City

Nature of disaster and death toll

365

Alexandria (Egypt)

Tsunami killed "many thousands"

526

Antioch (Syria)

Earthquake killed about 250,000

1041

Tabriz (Iran)

Earthquake killed 40,000

1138

Kirovabad (Tadjikistan)

Earthquake killed 130,000 in and around the city

1169

Catania (Italy)

Volcanic eruption killed 15,000 - most of city's
population

1627 - 29

Mexico City

Floods killed about 20% of city's 127,000 people

1642

Kaifeng (China)

Deliberate breaching of a dyke on the Hwang Ho River killed most
of the city's 200,000 - 300,000 inhabitants

1693

Naples (Italy)

Earthquake killed over 90,000 of about 200,000
residents

1721

Tabriz (Iran)

Earthquake killed about half the population of
150,000

1746

Lima (Peru)

Earthquake killed many of the city's 40,000
people

1755

Lisbon (Portugal)

Earthquake and tsunami killed 10,000 - 60,000 of the city's
estimated 300,000 people

1773

Guatemala City

Earthquake killed many of city's 30,000 people

1797

Quito (Ecuador)

Earthquake killed 40,000 in and around this city of
30,000

1822

Aleppo (Syria)

Earthquake killed 100,000 out of 150,000
inhabitants

1824

St. Petersburg (Russia)

Ice jam floods killed 10,000

1853

Shiraz (Iran)

Earthquake killed 12,000 of 22,000 inhabitants

1864

Calcutta (India)

Cyclone killed "tens of thousands"

1881

Haiphong (Vietnam)

Typhoon killed 300,000 in and around the city

1882

Bombay (India)

Cyclone killed 100,000 people in and around this city of 800,000+
residents

Note: Many other cities suffered extensive destruction
of property but relatively few deaths and injuries, especially as a result of
catastrophic urban fires. The Great Fire of London (1666), the Chicago fire
(1871), and the San Francisco (post-earthquake) fire (1906) are well-known
examples. For additional US examples, see Christine Meisner Rosen, The limits
of power: Great fires and the process of city growth in America, New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Participants in the Habitat II conference process identified 27
indicators that are useful for making comparisons among conditions of urban
living throughout the world. Indicator data from 235 cities in 110 countries
were collected during 1995 - 1996. The following three indicators directly or
indirectly measure some aspect of environmental hazard:

Indicator 19:

Housing destroyed. Defined as the proportion of housing stock
destroyed per thousand by natural or man-made disasters over the past 10
years.

Indicator 10:

Median price of water, scarce season.

Indicator 6:

Crime rates. Defined as reported murders and reported thefts per
thousand population annually.

4. Habitat II: Top 105 best practices of urban development that
involve disaster management and humanitarian investment

Title of project

Location

Urban Planning and Reconstruction of a War-torn City Centre,
Beirut

Lebanonb

Resettlement in Northern Iraq

Iraq

Palestinian Housing Council

Palestine

Housing Settlement Project in Shanghai

Chinab

Post-Calamity Reconstruction of Anhui Province's Rural
Areasa

China

Urban community development for the resettlement of Ein Helwan,
Cairoa